Railway spike



' July 3, 1928.

E. B. GRIFFIN RAILWAY SPIKE Filed Dec. 2', 1927 i fzgi.

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Irwenlor: Edwardfl Grlffm,

Patented July 3, 192 8.

UNITED STATES amaze;

EDWARD IB. GRIFFIN, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.

RAILWAY srnm,

Application filed December 2, 1927. Serial Nth 237,177.

This invention relates to spikes for secur-.. ingrails to a tie plate and has for its object" the production of a spike having one or more shoulders thereon adapted to engage the un der face of a tie plate when its head is in engagementwith the flange of a rail, thereby preventing the accidental displacement of the spike.

This object is attained by the mechanism 1" illustrated in the accom anying drawing.

For the purpose of illustrating thein'vention, one preferred form thereof is il1us trated in the drawings,-'this form having been found to give satisfactory and reliable I results, although it is to beunderstood that the various instrumentalities of which the invention consists can be variously arranged and organized, and the invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization of these instrumentalities as herein shown and described except as required by the scope of the appended claims.

Of the drawings: a Figure 1 represents a tie plate such as is 95 used with my improved railway spike.

Figure 2 represents a vertical section of the same and a rail surmounted thereon and secured thereto by spikes embodying the principles of the present invention.

Figure 3 represents a vertical section on line 3, 3, on Fig. 2, and

Figure 4t represents a vertical section on line 4, 4, on Fig. 2.

Similar characters indicate like arts throughout the several figures of the rawin the drawings 10 is a tie plate of usual construction provided with a plurality of square holes 11 to receive spikes by which the tie plate may be secured to the tie 12 and the rail 13 secured to said tie plate.

As shown in the drawings the upper face of the tie plate is inclined upwardly toward the upwardly extending rib 14 against '45 which a flange 15 of the rail 13 abuts.

Two of the holes 11 extend through the rib Hand the thickest part of the tie plate while the other holes 11 extent througha thinner part of the tie late.

The main purpose of t e present inventio is to construct a spike 16 of sucha shape.

, that it is adapted for insertion in either of the holes 11 and when so'inserted it will efit can only able force.

The spike-16 has a head 17 projecting from one side thereof the under face of which is inclined to correspond with the co ilgclination of the upper face of a rail flange Fromone side of the spike projects a shoulder 18 which is adapted to engagethe be dislodged by using considerunder face of'the tie. plate-11 when the spike has been driven into the tie 12.

The shank of the spike 16 with its shoul-- der 18 thereon is' designed to closely fit a hole 11 through which it must be driven into the tie 12, the walls of the hole acting as a guide and insuring that the spike shall be driven straigh. I

When the shoulder 18 passes the under face of the tie plate 11, it will ordinarily engage said under face but to positively in- 7 sure this engagement the opposite face of the shank of the-spike is provided with an inclined face 19 which, as the shoulder 18 about reaches the under face of the tie plate, will come into contact with wall of the hole 11 and move the spike laterally a slight distance so that said shoulder will extend beneath the tie plate.

This shoulder 18 is located a distance from the head 17 equal to the thickness of the rail flange 15 and the tie plate 11 at this particular point.

When thus inserted it is impossible for the spike to move in either direction.

- On another side of the spike is another shoulder 20 which preferably is perpendicular to the shoulder 18 and this shoulder 20 is nearer the head 17 as shown in-the drawings.

In other words the shoulder 20 is posi- ,7 tioned a distance from the head e ual to the It is obvious that two sets of spikes are not required as the same spike may be used in either hole '11.

When. these spikes are used in connection with .a tie plate it will be impossible for the rails 15 to spread or turnover.

Moreoverfas the shoulders 18, 20, engage the. under face of the tie plate after being driven it is'impossible for these spikes to move or work out of place.

Railway ties are now treated with creosote to lengthen the life thereof but this creosote acts asa lubricant makingit easier fora spike to loosen and move u wardly and when this occurs the head 17 Wlll move away from the'flange of the'rail 13 and the latter will not be securely held which is a great disadvantage and may cause serious accidents. i

This loosening of the spikes. is due'to jar.

or vibration of cars or trains passing over the rails.

With my improved spike in use this disadvantage is entirely overcome as the I j the spike will guide the spike straight when being driven and as a consequence the entire bottom of the head 17 will contact the upper face of the flange of the raii,'and this is not the. case when ordinary spikes are used as very often they are not driven straight and only a portion of the bottom of the head rests on the flange of rail.

Itis believed that the operation/and many advanta 'es' of the invention willbe understood without further description.

- Having. thus described my invention, I

' claim-- of a tie plate while the other shoulder is I ada ted to engage the under face of the thic estpart of said late. S

2. A railway spike ormed with a head to engage the flan e of a rail and having on two sides thereo shoulders perpendicular to each other and at different distances from said 1 head, said shoulders 'bein' curved downwardly, one shoulder'bein I a apted to engage the under face of the t innest part of a tie plate while the'other shoulder is adapted to engage the under face of the thickest part of said plate.

3. A railway spike formed with a head to engage the flange of a rail and adapted for insertion through a hole in a tie late, said spike having plurality of shouldhrs thereon at different distances from said head and either of which is adapted to engage the under face of said tie plate when said head is in contact with said rail flange. Signed by me at 746 Old South Bldg, Boston, Mass, this 1st day' of December,

EDWARD B. GRIFFIN. 

